Joel Plaskett
In Need of Medical Attention
No Alternative
Part-time Thrush Hermit guitarist and songwriter Plaskett weighs in with a solo album that is much in the same vein as one of John Lennon’s concept albums or Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska . It sounds more Lennonesque in its execution. The overall theme seems to be a series of thoughts of and about his relationship with his recently departed grandfather. It has a sort of resignation and a darkness about it, as it maybe should, since it was inspired by his grandfather’s passing, and maybe that’s what he needed to write in order to work through the loss. As art, I have to say that it works very well. As to whether it was enjoyable for me to listen to, well, for the most part, no. I liked “Weigh It Down.” I appreciated his farewell song to his grandfather, “Goodbye Doctor.” As for most of the other stuff, I’m a little too old and a little to aware of my mortality to want to wallow around in this sort of thing. However, I do think that the songcrafting was well done, and I appreciated the sparse musical arrangements that Plaskett employed.
No Alternative Records, 2217 Nicolett Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55404; http://www.noalternative.com
